Woman&#39;s garment with side closure devices

ABSTRACT

A woman&#39;s garment for covering the breasts of a woman, such as a bra, that includes two cup shaped portions for covering and supporting the breasts and a lateral strap that extends outwardly from one of the cup shaped portions. The lateral strap encircles the back of the woman and has a closure device located at its distal end. Another closure device is located proximate to the outside edge of the other cup shaped portion and is readily detachable and attachable with the closure device on the lateral strap. Due to the length of the lateral strap, the closure device of the lateral strap and the closure device proximate to the cup shaped portion form a connection that is automatically positioned proximate to and underneath the arm pit of the wearer such that the connection is not visible through an outer garment and thus creates a seamless appearance.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a garment to be worn by a woman, and,more particularly, to a garment having a pair of cup shaped portionsadapted to cover and support the breasts of a woman and includes alateral strap having a closure device at its distal end that connectswith another closure device affixed to, or proximate to, the garmentsuch that the closure devices, when connected, are located along theside of the woman.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are, of course, a wide variety of woman's garments and manydifferent ways to secure the garment to the woman. On type of garment,however, is intended for covering and supporting the breasts of a womanand which includes a pair of cup shaped portions that carry out thatpurpose. Typical examples include a brassiere (bra), bathing suit or thelike, however there are other garments that can be applicable.

In such instances, there are normally one or more straps that are usedto secure the cup shaped portions in the proper position and the strapor straps normally have some closure devices at their distal ends tofacilitate securing the garment in place and those closure devices mustbe readily, but securely, attachable and detachable by the wearer. Inthe case of a bra, for example, however, it is also important that thelocation of the connection between the closure devices be at a locationwhere the connection is not visible through an outer garment so that theclosure connection presents a seamless appearance of the wearer.

At the present, such garments may have two straps that extend outwardfrom the cup shaped portions and are joined together by the closuredevices at or proximate to the middle of the back of the woman. Suchlocation creates a bulge and the connection can therefore be visible toothers through an outer garment.

Another location is to have a closure devices connected together at alocation intermediate the cup shaped portions such that the connectionbetween the closure devices of the garment is located in the front,center area of the of the wearer.

In either instance, the connection between the closure devices can bevisible through the outer garment and therefore the look of the seamlessappearance is simply not present.

It would therefore be advantageous to have a woman's garment having aconnection location for closure devices that secure the garment to thewearer at a location where the connection is not visible through anouter garment so as to create a seamless exterior appearance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a woman's garment, such asa bra or bathing suit, that includes two cup shaped portions adapted tocover and support the breasts of the woman. While the present inventionis particularly suitable for garments such as a bra or bathing suit, itcan be seen that it is also applicable to other garments, includingdresses and the like.

A lateral strap extends outwardly from one of the cup shaped portionsand encircles the back of the woman and is attached to the other cupshaped portion. The lateral strap may be constructed integral with thecup shaped portion from which it extends or may be secured thereto bysewing and the like. A closure device is located at the distal end ofthe lateral strap and which interacts with another closure devicelocated at or proximate to the other cup shaped portion to form theconnection therebetween that is readily attachable and detachable by thewearer.

The closure device proximate to the other cup shaped portion may beactually located on the cup shaped portion or there may be a small strapthat extends outwardly a short distance from the cup shaped portion toproperly position the ultimate connection between closure devices in thedesired position of the present invention.

When the two closure devices are connected together as the garment isbeing worn by the woman, due to the length of the lateral strap, thelocation of the connection is proximate to and underneath the arm pit ofthe woman, such that the connection location of the closure devices isnot visible to others and is not visible through an outer garment.

Due to the particular location of the connection between the closuredevices of the present invention, the garment is easy to put on by thewearer and the closure devices are invisible to outside viewing. Theclosure devices can be conventional devices such as buttons, snaps orclosure devices of other types and which are hidden for others as wellas comfortable to the wearer.

The garment may also optionally have vertically oriented straps thatextend upwardly from the cup shaped portions so as to pass over theshoulders of the woman and be secured to the lateral strap at the backof the woman. The vertically oriented straps can be integral with thematerial of the garment or may be separately made components that aresewn to the cup shaped portions and the lateral strap.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention willbecome more readily apparent during the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the drawings herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a woman's garment constructed inaccordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a woman wearing the garment of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective view of a woman'sgarment 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention. As canbe seen, the garment 10 includes two cup shaped portions 12, 14 that areadapted to cover and support the breasts of the woman wearing thegarment 10. Extending outwardly from the cup shaped portion 12 is alateral strap 16 that, when worn by a woman, encircles the back of thewoman. The lateral strap 16 has a distal end 18 having a closure device20 provided thereon. The lateral strap 16 may be constructed integralwith the cup shaped portion 12 or may be secured thereto by sewing andthe like.

A further closure device 22 is located at the outer edge 24 of the cupshaped portion 14 and is compatible with the closure device 20 such thatthe closure devices 20, 22 can be used to attach and detach the lateralstrap 16 and the cup shaped portion 14 as the woman dons or removes thegarment.

The closure devices 20, 22 can be conventional devices currently usedwith women's garments and may be hook and eye devices, zipper, snaps,buttons or other devices used in the attaching and detaching garments.

In addition, there can be vertically oriented straps 26, 28 that extendupwardly from the cup shaped portions 12, 14 and which then pass overthe shoulders of the woman wearing the garment and are secured to thelateral strap 16. Again, the vertically oriented straps can be integralwith the material of the garment 10 of may be separately made componentsthat are sewn to the cup shaped portions 12, 14 and the lateral strap16.

Turning now to FIG. 2, there is shown a perspective view of a woman 30wearing the garment 10 of FIG. 1. As can be seen, the garment 10includes a pair of cup shaped portions 32, 34 that cover and support thebreasts of the woman 30. Only one vertically oriented strap 36 is shownin FIG. 2, it being seen that there are two of such vertically orientedstraps.

A closure device 38 is shown slightly extended from the cup shapedportion 32 and, as stated, the closure device 38 may be directly affixedto the cup shaped portion 32 or there may be a small strap 40 extendingfrom the cup shaped portion 32 so as to locate the closure device 38 inthe desired location in accordance with the present invention.

Another closure device 42 is provided at the distal end 44 of thelateral strap 46 and the closure device 42 is compatible and readilyattachable and detachable from the closure device 38. A noted withrespect to FIG. 1, the lateral strap 46 extends around the back of thewoman 30 and is attached to or is integral with the cup shaped portion34.

From FIG. 2, the location of the connection between the closure devices38 and 42 can be seen to be proximate to and just below the arm pit 48of the woman 30, that is, when the woman's arm 50 extends downwardly inits normal relaxed position, the location of the connection between theclosure devices 38 and 42 lies under the arm of the woman 30 so that theconnection is not visible through any outer garment and the outergarment so as to create a seamless appearance.

Those skilled in the art will readily recognize numerous adaptations andmodifications which can be made to the side connection garment of thepresent invention which will result in an improved garment, yet all ofwhich will fall within the scope and spirit of the present invention asdefined in the following claims. Accordingly, the invention is to belimited only by the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A woman's garment comprising two cup shaped portions adapted to cover the breasts of a woman, a lateral strap extending outwardly from one of the cup shaped portions adapted to encircle the back of a woman, said lateral strap having a distal end with a first closure device, a second closure device affixed proximate to the other cup shaped portion and connectable with the first closure device, wherein the closure devices, when connected, are located beneath the arm pit of woman.
 2. The woman's garment as defined in claim 1 further including a pair of vertically oriented straps extending upwardly for the cup shaped portions to pass over the shoulders of a woman and be secured to the lateral strap.
 3. The woman's garment as defined in claim 1 including a small strap extending from the cup shaped portion and wherein the second closure device is located at the distal enc of the small strap.
 4. The woman's garment as defined in claim 1 wherein the closure devices are hook and eye fasteners.
 5. The woman's garment as defined in claim 1 wherein the closure devices are snaps.
 6. The woman's garment as defined in claim 1 wherein the garment is a brassiere.
 7. The woman's garment as defined in claim 1 wherein the garment is a bathing suit or a component of a bathing suit.
 8. A method of securing a woman's garment to a woman, the method comprising the steps of: placing a garment having first and second cup shaped portions in position on a woman wherein the first and second portions are adapted to overlie the breasts of a woman, the garment having at least one lateral strap extending from the first cup portion, encircling the woman with the lateral strap; and joining the lateral strap to the second cup portion at a location proximate to and underneath the arm pit of a woman.
 9. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of placing a garment in position comprises placing a garment having vertically oriented straps over the shoulders of a woman.
 10. The method of claim 8 wherein the step of joining the lateral strap to the second cup portion comprises joining the lateral strap to a small strap extending outwardly for the second cup portion.
 11. The method of claim 7 wherein the step of joining comprises the step of inserting a hook on the lateral strap or second cup portion to a loop on the second cup portion or lateral strap.
 12. The method of claim 7 wherein the garment is a bra.
 13. The method of claim 7 wherein the garment is a bathing suit. 